1998: (April) The Teaching in the Community Colleges (TCC) Online Conference keynote address and downloadable video proposed a year-round organization to turn online education into a professional discipline

Mailing list discussions continued after the conference, then a Constitutional Convention held in a BBS drafted WAOE formative documents and a system for online parliamentary procedures

Further meetings were held in a Web Board and using mailing lists hosted at American universities

Domain waoe.org acquired

Affiliated Journal of Online Education (JOE) at New York University

WAOE recognized in educational technology sites, directories, and publications such as the Chronicle of Higher Education

WAOE registered as a non-profit public benefit organization (NPO) in the State of California with Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws

1999: A Special Members' Meeting ratified the NPO Bylaws and elected members of the Board of Directors from various countries

Inaugural Members' Meeting and Board of Directors' Meeting, annual NPO requirements, were held, with the State of California interested in WAOE's online voting

Different mailing lists were developed for member discussions, organizational announcements, and officers' discussions

Besides the elected officers, appointed officers included the Cyber-Parliamentarian and a Coordinating Ring of officers from many countries

Online newsletter WAOE Electronic Bulletin (WEB) started

A World Cultural Festival was held online, then a summer festival in collaboration with Child Research Net, a Tokyo, Japan NPO

A WAOE Online Educators' Course was offered, utilizing the Blackboard LMS

2000: The WAOE membership had been approaching a thousand participants from over 50 countries until a small membership fee was introduced, which regrettably discouraged the less privileged

After giving personal honoraria to WAOE from collaboration with Child Research Net, along with member contributions, membership dues were abolished

WAOE online greeting card for the year 2000 in 20 languages

The Multilingual WAOE Project resulted in WAOE commissioned Websites, discussion groups, or membership information available in Spanish, French, Malay, Turkish, Italian, Portuguese, Hindi, German, Russian, Chinese, and Japanese

A policy for affiliating with other organizations was developed

2000-2001: An Online Educator Development Practicum was offered, utilizing the MetaCollege LMS

2001: WAOE collaborated with an e-learning conference in Malaysia

A WAOE membership badge was made available online, but while only individuals can belong to WAOE, some groups have abused the badge or WAOE's logo to falsely imply a sort of accreditation

An interactive world map of WAOE officers was created along with other interesting items in java by Prof. Roberto Mueller in Brazil

2002: Started donating WAOE server space, hosting the International Program for Africa and a Russian Initiative

WAOE co-sponsored a Future of Universities event held in a MOO

2003: WAOE donated $900 to an NGO in Estonia for Baltic region online education for minority Russian language users

WAOE blog "Intercultural Literacy" started

Main WAOE Website and mailing lists hosted at Portland State University by Chief Technology Officer Prof. Maggie McVay Lynch

2004: Mentoring Project of WAOE expert volunteers helped educators develop plans for online education projects

WAOE mentors in several countries added a blended element to an intensive graduate course on Online Education at a national university in Japan with audioconferences, voice board, WebCT LMS, etc.

Four officers met face-to-face for the first time, giving a group presentation at a conference held at the University of Sussex, UK

2005: Spoken Libraries Project, whereby several WAOE members developed podcasting blogs

2006: WAOE moved Websites and e-mail accounts to a private ISP as the CTO retired, with mailing lists moved to Google Groups

Resolution announced to clarify that WAOE is an academic organization for individuals, not accrediting groups using our logo

WAOE members in six countries collaborated on two chapters in The International Handbook of Virtual Learning Environments

2007-2012: New Board of Directors: President Nick Bowskill (UK), Begum Ibrahim (Malaysia), Mike Holmwood (Canada), Eileen Dittmar (US), and Ramesh Sharma (India), with Steve McCarty (Japan) appointed President Emeritus, also serving as Webmaster

2008: WAOE live 3D event with Capella University in Second Life

2010: WAOE's main site was redesigned

From 2010: WAOE hosts a Moodle LMS site as a voluntary contribution to the distance education section of the national University of Guyana in South America

2010-2011: Board meeting to consider changing from an NPO to an informal international NGO

2011: WAOE contributed about $1,400 to a children's hospital in Bangladesh

Some WAOE members met f2f at the 5th International Malaysian Educational Technology Convention

WAOE 2011 Changes

2012: WAOE appoints new NGO officers from Africa, Asia, Latin America, etc.

 
Further details with links:

History: April 1998: Teaching in the Community Colleges Online Conference Keynote Address and March 1998 video | Mid-1998: Constitutional Convention held in a BBS | From 1998: WAOE WebBoard used for online meetings | 1998: WAOE Formative Documents / 1999: Membership Documents | Feb. 1999: Special Members' Meeting ballot ratified Bylaws and elected Directors | June 1999: Inaugural Members' Meeting | 1999: Pilot WAOE Online Educators' Course using Blackboard | 2000: Affiliations Policy | 2000-2001: MetaCollege LMS used for Online Educator Development Practicum | Annual Members' Meeting President's Report for 2000, 2001 and 2002 | From April 2003 WAOE's ISP is Portland State University / Archives of public discussion list waoe-views | Online Educator Development Committee preparing Online Teacher Certification course for members | 2003 Annual Members' Meeting / Bylaws amended to add CTO as 6th WAOE Director / Dr. Maggie McVay Lynch appointed CTO at July 2003 Board of Directors' Meeting | 2004 Annual Members' Meeting | Mentoring Project | 2005 Annual Members' Meeting | 2006Annual Members' Meeting | 2006 Annual Board of Directors' Meeting proceedings | 2007 Annual Board of Directors' Meeting in progress after the Annual Members' Meeting with a successful online election. In 2010 the main WAOE Website was redesigned. 2010-2011: Emergency Board Meeting to consider changing to an NGO. WAOE 2011 Changes.

News: November 1998: Humanist (University of London) introduction to WAOE | 2000 Update / WAOE early 2001 news | What Online Education Is, with particular reference to Japan | WAOE cited as model of collaboration at a conference in China | 2001: WAOE collaborated with an online learning conference in Malaysia | From 2001: Java online Membership Certificate on demand and interactive world map of WAOE officers (Dr. Roberto Mueller, Brazil), Portuguese and Esperanto versions from August 2003 | Transcript of mid-2002 MOO event on the Future of Universities | February 2003: new officers and member networking plans | June 2003: new WAOE home page with Flash, an accessible site, Web forms to join WAOE and update membership details, password-protected member networking site /June 2003: revived newsletter WAOE Electronic Bulletin (WEB) - latest issue | results of 3 consecutive online meetings from June through July 2003: e-Democracy | September 2004: WAOE officers meet f2f for a presentation on WAOE at a UK conference | Spoken Libraries (2005). 2006: Moved from Portland State University to a private ISP. Ms. Ibrahim and Ms. Dittmar's positions were switched, and Prof. Jenna Seehafer of Califormia State University again became NPO representative. In 2011 WAOE donated all of its funds, about $1,400, to a children's hospital in Bangladesh.

Culture: 1999: World Culture Festival / Multilingual WAOE Project | Child Research Net (Tokyo) collaboration on Summer Festivals in Japan | 2000: Greeting card for the 2000s in 20 languages with the Universidade Federal de Vicosa, Brazil / tcc2000 conference report on International/Multicultural Issues and New Technologies for Learning | 2001: WebCT for the Language Teacher (distance education issues in Japan) | 2002:PowerPoint presentation (view with MS IE browser): Overcoming Face-to-Face Dependence in Distance Education: Gender and Cultural Issues | August 2002 International Program for Africa hosted at WAOE / November 2002: Russian initiative | May 2003:WAOE Weblog (blog) Intercultural Literacy | By 2003: full WAOE Websites in Japanese,　Portuguese, Malay, Turkish, and Italian; discussion groups for India, Japanese, Spanish, French and Malay; see announcement/ July 2003: added German, Italian, Russian, Portuguese and Turkish | WAOE blog Intercultural Literacy | WAOE-affiliated podcasting blogs by Nick (WAOE Community Audio Learning Project) / Steve (Japancasting) / Mike Warner / Cliff Layton. From 2010: as a voluntary effort of Dr. Ramesh Sharma and Steve McCarty, WAOE hosts the Moodle learning management system for the distance education division of the national University of Guyana in South America.

Home Page

WAOE Commissioned Sites / Links to and honorable mention About WAOE

E-mail:Contact: mccarty@mail.goo.ne.jp 

 Updated on January 2013